Design grid with variable guide

ABSTRACT

A game for making drawings or FIGS. and constituted by a plurality of ornamental elements adapted to be suitably positioned on a support, said game comprising at least one colored sheet or plate covered with a plurality of suitably located spots on the surface thereof, said sheet being associated to a grid provided with openings superimposed to said sheet and adapted to unveil through the openings thereof some of the spots of said colored sheet, which altogether form a design or drawing.

United States Patent 1 13,s79,ss9

inventor Pierre Malenge 1,172,360 2/1916 Hildburgh 40/28 19R Nationale, fl hes, (Nord), France 1,594,703 8/1926 Ballerini 40/28 [21] Appl. No. 795,092 3,191,937 6/1965 Kropinski.... 35/28X [22] Filed Jan. 29, 1969 3,438,702 4/1969 Milhaupt 40/106.1X [45] Patented May 25, 1971 FOREIGN PATENTS 22552 60,919 8/1954 France 46/16 [311 138 577 1,121,093 4/1956 France 46/16 1,153,198 9/1957 France 46/16 Primary ExaminerHarland S. Skogquist [54] DESIGN GRID WITH VARIABLE GUIDE At!0rneyChristen & Sabol 10 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl /27, ABSTRACT: A game for making drawings or FIGS. and com /286 stituted by a plurality of ornamental elements adapted to be [5 l Int. Cl G09!) 1/04 Suitably positioned on a support, Said game comprising at least Field of Search 35/27, 28, one colored Sheet or plate covered with a plurality f suitably 73140/28 (C); 46/16 located spots on the surface thereof, said sheet being associated to a grid provided with openings superimposed to [56] References cued said sheet and adapted to unveil through the openings thereof UNTED STATES PATENTS some of the spots of said colored sheet, which altogether form 887,342 5/1908 McLane 35/27 a design or drawing.

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DESIGN GRID WITH VARIABLE GUIDE The present invention relates to improvements to games and toys, in particular of the educational type, in which the user arranges elements, preferably of various colors on a plane support, in order to obtain various patterns or figures.

Said support comprises known means adapted to receive and immobilize at appropriate places, ornamental elements, the line and color combinations of which will constitute a given pattern or figure; for instance, said support comprises cavities forreceiving colored pearls. In games of such a type, it is known to supply a series of drawings, which serve as models: the child who uses such games endeavors to reproduce such drawings by arranging the ornamental elements onto the support at appropriate places; in particular, groundworks or drawings are printed on a sheet, said sheet being placed under the support or being superimposed to the latter, in order to clearly and accurately indicate the places of the ornamental elements as well as the colors chosen; this involves supplying, together with the game proper, a great number of patterns or groundworks, each of which is printed on a separate sheet; the cost price of the game is therefore increased, and such sheets are cumbersome, so that the game is rather uneasy to handle; in addition, it is to be noted that the sheets, being frequently handled, are subject to rapid wear.

The present invention, which is free from such drawbacks, is concerned with a game pennitting to obtain patterns from ornamental elements arranged on a support; according to the invention, it is possible to obtain a considerable number of drawings and patterns, without the necessity of having at one's disposal a model sheet for each desired drawing.

According to a first feature, the game, which comprises, in known manner, a plurality of ornamental elements such as pearls or balls, preferably of various colors and at least one support for receiving and immobilizing said ornamental elements, also comprises at least one colored sheet or plate covered with a plurality of spots located at appropriate places of its surface and cooperating with a perforated sheet or grid comprising a plurality of openings evenly distributed on the surface thereof, said grid being superimposed to the colored sheet and unveiling only some of the spots which cover said colored sheet.

According to the present invention, the colored sheet is divided into unit zones distributed according to a regular checked pattern, each of said unit zones being given or not a distinctive color; the upper perforated sheet or grid com-prises openings, the areas of which correspond to that of a unit zone of the colored sheet, said openings being distributed according to a checked pattern, the spacing of which is a multiple of that of the pattern formed by the unit zones on said colored sheet.

Therefore, the grid superimposed to the colored sheet will unveil only some of the spots of said colored sheet, those of the spots which are simultaneously unveiled belonging to the same combination and forming a design. By slightly moving the perforated sheet or grid, in the vertical and/or horizontal directions, it is possible to superimpose said grid to another combination of spots of the colored sheet and, thus, to unveil another design or drawing.

According to afirst embodiment, the colored sheet comprises colored spots, the number of which is four times that of the grid openings; therefore, each opening can be superimposed to four adjacent spots of the colored sheet, so that said openings, provided the grid is appropriately caused to slide on the colored sheet, will successively unveil four combinations of spots, each of which forms a given design or drawing.

According to the above embodiment, the colored sheet may be immobilized onto a support, for instance onto the bottom of the game packing-box, the latter forming a frame in which said colored sheet is tightly fitted; it is thus possible to displace the grid, which is of slightly smaller size than said frame, by successively fixing its four comers in four different positions, each of said four positions superimposing the grid to a given combination of spots, and therefore unveiling a given design or drawing; provided the sheet is printed on both faces, it is possible to obtain eight designs or drawings from said colored sheet.

According to another embodiment of a more complicated type, the colored sheet is divided into unit zones, 1 square millimeter large, following one another without interruption and each of which is given a different color; the grid comprises cells or openings, also 1 square millimeter large, which are linearly distributed with 5 mm. spacing; the ratio of the linear distribution of the unit zones on the colored sheet to the distribution of the grid openings is thus of 5. Accordingly, 25 square millimeters of the colored sheet comprise 25 colored unit zones, whereas an equivalent area of the grid comprises but one opening. Therefore, by successively displacing the grid on the colored sheet, in the horizontal and/or vertical directions, it will be possible to successively superimpose each of the grid openings to 25 colored unit zones, and accordingly to successively unveil each of the 25 spots corresponding to said 25 unit zones.

By displacing the grid, it is therefore possible to unveil 25 sets, or combinations, of colored spots, each of said combinations corresponding to a given design or drawing. In the previous example, it is therefore possible, with a single sheet colored on both faces, to obtain fifty different drawings or configurations, with the help of the grid.

The present invention permits to obtain a large number of groundworks which serve as guides for positioning elements such as pearls, balls, small plates, cubes, cylinders, etc.. the game according to the present invention requires but a small number of parts of very small dimensions; its cost price is much lower than that of similar games of the prior art, and it is considerably more attractive.

According to another feature of the invention, the colored sheet and the grid superimposed to the latter comprise means for removably fixing these two parts to each other, by successively locking them according to various combinations, each of which corresponds to a given design or drawing.

Preferably, these locking means are constituted by removable lugs passing through openings of the colored sheet, on the one hand, and of the grid on the other hand, these two sets of openings being put in register in order to unveil in the grid openings a combination of spots forming a given design or drawing. 1

According to a preferred embodiment, the grid so provided with openings acts as a support for ornamental elements such as pearls or balls for instance; to this end, the grid is constituted by a molded plate with surface unevennesses which are regularly distributed and adapted to constitute cells for receiving each at least one element such as a pearl or a ball, the bottom of each such cell comprising an opening corresponding to a spot of the colored sheet which is visible through said opening and indicates the color of the ornamental elements which has to be introduced into the cell of the supporting grid.

The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of the game according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial view of a fixing means used in the embodiment according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a variant of the game according to the invention wherein the grid is locked in a comer;

FIG. d shows the game according to FIG. 3, the grid being locked at the opposite corner;

FIGS. 5,6 and 7 show variants of the support provided with cells for positioning the ornamental elements and,

FIGS. 8 to 12 show ornamental elements of various shapes.

Colored sheet 2 bears, on the surface thereof, a succession of colored spots 3, 3', 3" of equal areas, suitably distributed according to a regular checked pattern.

Colored sheet 2 is removably integral with support plate 1 and, to this end, it comprises, along its upper edges, perforations 4, 4' etc. arranged along a straight line and which can be fixed to lugs 5, 5' integral with the bottom of the packingbox; these removable lugs are locked to the support sheet I and successively passed through perforations of the colored sheet and perforations of the grid, which are thus rendered integral.

An ornamental element having the shape of a ball 9, provided with a perforation, can be locked to each of said lugs.

Perforations 4, 4 of the colored sheet are arranged according to five superimposed columns, each of said columns being shifted with respect to the previous one, to the right or to the left, by a spacing which corresponds to the width of a unit zone of the colored sheet; it will be easily understood that, passing from one column to the following one, one moves the colored sheet with respect to grid 6 and to sheet I integral with the bottom of the box, by a distance corresponding to a unit zone; accordingly, the openings of the grid will each come in register with a colored spot adjacent to the preceding spot; therefore, the grid will unveil, through its openings, a new combination of spots forming a new design or drawing.

The 25 perforations 4, 4'... thus permit to position colored sheet 2 with respect to the grid (which maintains a fixed position), by successively putting openings 7, 7'... in register with each of the 25 combinations or spots, each of which corresponds to a given design or drawing. According to the position chosen, the fixing lug 5 will be introduced into the perforation of support sheet I, which is nearest to the perforation of the colored sheet 2 corresponding to said position, then into the openings of grid 6 which automatically correspond to the perforations of support sheet 1. To this end, the perforations of support sheet 1 are in number and arranged in a column; they correspond to the marginal openings of grid 6. Moreover, each of these perforations of the sheet corresponds to two or three positions of the superimposed colored sheet; the perforations of support sheet I bear marks which indicate the perforations to be used for placing lug 5 according to the chosen design or drawing and corresponding to a given perforation number indicated on the colored sheet.

The colored sheet is covered by grid 6 provided with cells; said grid is removably fixed by inserting fixing lugs 5 and 5 into the marginal openings so that said colored sheet and support grid fixed with respect to each other at two points are accurately positioned with respect to each other.

Grid 6 comprises a series of openings 7, 7, 7"... distributed on the surface thereof according a checked pattern, the spacing of which is a multiple of the pattern formed by the unit zones of the colored sheet 2, each of which corresponds to a colored spot 3, 3, 3"...

The colored spots of colored sheet 2 are visible through openings 7, 7, 7"... but, in view of its positioning, grid 6 unveils only some of these spots, which altogether form a design or drawing.

Grid 6 comprises unevennesses or ribs 8, 8', 8" etc.... molded in one piece therewith, and the interval between four such ribs defines a cell, the bottom of which comprises one of the openings 7, 7, 7"...; these cells are adapted to receive ornamental elements which, in the present instance, are colored balls 9, 9', 9"... mounted by the user himself, and the various colors of which have to be so chosen as to correspond to the colors visible through openings 7, 7, 7"...

In the example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, grid 6 is maintained in position and, if desired, locked by any suitable device at the four comers of a frame 10 constituted by the bottom of the packing box, or of any suitable box into which is inserted and fixed colored sheet 2. By moving the grid from right to left, one causes the design or drawing shown in FIG. 3, representing a boat, to vanish and a new series of spots, as shown in FIG. 4, representing an animal, is unveiled; the child who uses the game has then only to position the ornamental elements in order to materialize the design formed by the spots visible through the grid openings.

FIG. 5 shows the arrangement of protrusions 8, 8', defining cells the bottoms of which comprise openings 7, 7'..., said cells being adapted to receive an ornamental element, constituted for instance by a ball 9.

According to FIG. 6, the cells are defined by wooden tongues ll, ll assembled according to checked patterns defining cells for receiving the ornamental elements.

According to avariant shown in FIG. 7, the cells are in the shape of honeycombs. The ornamental elements can be given any of the shapes shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, the cells being given shapes enabling each of them to receive and immobilize an ornamental element.

The cell-support may also be made of a transparent molded material and it is then superimposed to a grid provided with openings, the operation of which has been explained hereabove.

The cell-support may also be constituted by a bottomless lattice-work defining cells of various shapes, and contingently integral with a perforated plate, the bottom of each cell being occupied by an opening.

Finally, the support for the ornamental elements may comprise evenly distributed tenons or protrusions onto which are to be mounted ornamental elements having any suitable shape (for instance perforated balls), In such a case, the tenons have to be transparent, so that it is possible to see the colored spot located under each tenon and which indicates the color of the ornamental element to be mounted on said tenon.

The game according to the present invention also comprises a list of the various designs or drawings which is possible to obtain by giving the grid various positions with respect to the colored sheet; to this end, such a list comprises numerals corresponding to each drawing and also corresponding to the number of the colored plate or sheet or to the positioning of the grid on the sheet.

lt is thus possible to draw a list of several hundreds of drawings, which provides the child who uses the game with a considerable choice.

I claim:

1. A game for making drawings or figures and constituted by a plurality of ornamental elements adapted to be suitably positioned on a support, said game comprising at least one colored sheet or plate covered with a plurality of suitably located spots on the surface thereof, said sheet being associated to a grid provided with openings superimposed to said sheet and adapted to unveil through the openings thereof some of the spots of said colored sheet, which altogether form a design or drawing, said grid including means for immobilizing one of said ornamental elements when positioned over a selected one of any of said suitably located spots therein, and means for positively positioning the colored sheet and grid relative to each other in a plurality of selectively predetermined relationships, each of which corresponds to a given design or drawing.

2. A game according to claim 1, wherein said colored sheet is divided into unit zones distributed according to a regular checked pattern, each of said zones being adapted to receive a colored spot, the upper grid comprising openings the sizes of which substantially correspond to the area of a unit zone of said colored sheet, said openings being distributed according to a checked pattern, the spacing of which is a submultiple of the checked pattern corresponding to the distribution of the unit zones of the colored sheet.

3. A game according to claim 2, wherein said fixing means are constituted by at least two removable lugs, cooperating with appropriate perforations of the colored sheet and of the sheet provided with openings, said lugs being adapted to be introduced into said perforations.

4. A game according to claim 1, wherein said grid provided with openings constitutes the support of the ornamental elements.

5. A game according to claim 1, wherein said grid provided with openings is constituted by a plate comprising unevennesses molded in one piece therewith and cells adapted to receive and immobilize ornamental elements.

6. A game according to claim 1, wherein the bottoms of the cells receiving the ornamental elements comprise openings which unveil the colored spots of the colored spots sheet belonging to a given design or drawing.

7. a game according to claim 3, wherein the perforations for fixing the colored sheet onto said lugs, are arranged according to several vertical series which are shifted one with respect to one another by a spacing corresponding to the interval between two spots of said colored sheet.

8. A game according to claim 1, wherein the means for fixing the grid with respect to the colored sheet are constituted by a frame formed by the bottom of the game packing box, said colored sheet being tightly fitted into said frame, said grid being capable of moving between the edges of said frame, both in the direction of its height and of its width, by a distance corresponding to the spacing between the centers of two colored spots, the displacement of said grid from one edge to the other causing a set of spots to vanish and a new set of spots, and accordingly a new design or drawing, to appear.

9. A game according to claim I, wherein the means for removing and immobilizing the ornamental elements are constituted by a lattice-work formed by wooden tongues defining cells and superimposed to a plate provided with openings, each of said openings being in register with the center of a cell. 10. A game according to claim 1, wherein the means for receiving and immobilizing the ornamental elements are constituted by transparent protrusions through which it is possible to see the various colored spots, so that it is possible to choose the colors of said ornamental elements, each of said ornamental elements being provided with a perforation for inserting one of said protrusions. 

1. A game for making drawings or figures and constituted by a plurality of ornamental elements adapted to be suitably positioned on a support, said game comprising at least one colored sheet or plate covered with a plurality of suitably located spots oN the surface thereof, said sheet being associated to a grid provided with openings superimposed to said sheet and adapted to unveil through the openings thereof some of the spots of said colored sheet, which altogether form a design or drawing, said grid including means for immobilizing one of said ornamental elements when positioned over a selected one of any of said suitably located spots therein, and means for positively positioning the colored sheet and grid relative to each other in a plurality of selectively predetermined relationships, each of which corresponds to a given design or drawing.
 2. A game according to claim 1, wherein said colored sheet is divided into unit zones distributed according to a regular checked pattern, each of said zones being adapted to receive a colored spot, the upper grid comprising openings the sizes of which substantially correspond to the area of a unit zone of said colored sheet, said openings being distributed according to a checked pattern, the spacing of which is a submultiple of the checked pattern corresponding to the distribution of the unit zones of the colored sheet.
 3. A game according to claim 2, wherein said fixing means are constituted by at least two removable lugs, cooperating with appropriate perforations of the colored sheet and of the sheet provided with openings, said lugs being adapted to be introduced into said perforations.
 4. A game according to claim 1, wherein said grid provided with openings constitutes the support of the ornamental elements.
 5. A game according to claim 1, wherein said grid provided with openings is constituted by a plate comprising unevennesses molded in one piece therewith and cells adapted to receive and immobilize ornamental elements.
 6. A game according to claim 1, wherein the bottoms of the cells receiving the ornamental elements comprise openings which unveil the colored spots of the colored spots sheet belonging to a given design or drawing.
 7. a game according to claim 3, wherein the perforations for fixing the colored sheet onto said lugs, are arranged according to several vertical series which are shifted one with respect to one another by a spacing corresponding to the interval between two spots of said colored sheet.
 8. A game according to claim 1, wherein the means for fixing the grid with respect to the colored sheet are constituted by a frame formed by the bottom of the game packing box, said colored sheet being tightly fitted into said frame, said grid being capable of moving between the edges of said frame, both in the direction of its height and of its width, by a distance corresponding to the spacing between the centers of two colored spots, the displacement of said grid from one edge to the other causing a set of spots to vanish and a new set of spots, and accordingly a new design or drawing, to appear.
 9. A game according to claim 1, wherein the means for removing and immobilizing the ornamental elements are constituted by a lattice-work formed by wooden tongues defining cells and superimposed to a plate provided with openings, each of said openings being in register with the center of a cell.
 10. A game according to claim 1, wherein the means for receiving and immobilizing the ornamental elements are constituted by transparent protrusions through which it is possible to see the various colored spots, so that it is possible to choose the colors of said ornamental elements, each of said ornamental elements being provided with a perforation for inserting one of said protrusions. 